It’s Blue Oyster Cult New Vinyl Thursday at The Vinyl Underground at 7th Heaven. Check out this week’s list of new vinyl arrivals:
Ataraxia – The Unexplained
Art Pepper – Meets the Rhythm Section
Ace Frehley – Origins, Vol. 2 (Blue &White Colored Vinyl)
Blue Oyster Cult – The Symbol Remains
Bobby Hutcherson – Oblique [180 Gram Vinyl]
Weekly Review:
In 1967, vibraphone master Bobby Hutcherson went into the studio with pianist Herbie Hancock, bass
player Albert Stinson and drummer Joe Chambers to record some original songs. Strangely, the music
they created wasn’t released until 1980 – and then only in Japan. Now this underrated, unheralded
music is finally getting the wide release it deserves as part of the Blue Note Records Tone Poet series.
Hutcherson wrote half of the album’s six compositions, including two that open the album. The ballad
“’Til Then” allows plenty of room for Hancock to shine, while Hutcherson takes over on the bubbly “My
Joy.” As the performance gains momentum after couple minutes, the majesty of the ensemble really
shines. Hancock’s chords accentuate Hutcherson’s soloing while Chambers’ drums broil underneath.
On Hancock’s “Theme from Blow-Up,” piano and vibes vamp together, with Hutcherson taking the lead.
It’s an interesting performance because it keeps going well past the point where the soundtrack version
fades out and Hutcherson is taking the space where Freddie Hubbard’s trumpet is featured on the
original. A pair of adventurous numbers by Chambers close the album.
As with all Tone Poet releases, Oblique has been remastered and pressed on 180-gram vinyl, offering
audiophile quality at reasonable pricing. Seventh Heaven has several other titles available in this series.
-Joel Francis
Beach Bunny – Honeymoon
Booker Little – Booker Little Quartet (180 Gram Vinyl)
Brent Cobb – Keep ‘Em On They Toes
Weekly Review:
The fourth album by country singer Brent Cobb is the kind of laid-back country/folk that sounds like it
could have been recorded at nearly any point in the last half-century.
The gentle title song sounds equal parts James Taylor and Kris Kristofferson as Cobb advises to “listen to
your heart, listen to the rain/listen to whatever it is that keeps you sane.” Cobb is angrier when he calls
out fans who don’t political or social commentary in music, but most of the fury is channeled through a
pair of harmonica solos. This topic must have struck a nerve with Cobb, because he sings about it again
on “Soapbox.” On “The World is Ending,” Cobb takes a look at the current situation and decides it
“might be time to clean house.” Although his lyrics are pointed, Cobb never lets his relaxed Georgian
timbre get overheated.
Cobb balances the topical numbers with songs about “Good Times and Good Love” and the unhurried
blues “Dust Under My Rug.” On “Little Stuff,” Cobb reflects on a place in the pines where the fish bite
and heaven is in the clouds. He ultimately decides the best way to get through life is to keep “a tight grip
on all the good folks that you love/let the rain go, chase the rainbow.” As far as messages in music go,
this is one everyone should be able to get behind. -Joel Francis
Beths – Jump Rope Gazers
Blink 182 – Enema of the State
Bruce Springsteen – Letter To You [140 Gram Vinyl, Gatefold LP Jacket]
Beastie Boys – Music
Weekly Review:
The 20-song anthology is designed as a companion piece to the best-selling ‘Beastie Boys Book’.Beastie Boys Music, a 20-song collection covering the Grammy Award-winning and multi-platinum selling Beastie Boys’ recording career. The collection is a companion piece to the critically acclaimed documentary Beastie Boys Story, currently nominated for 5 Emmys and the group’s best seller Beastie Boys Book, which is a number one on The New York Times Best Sellers List. 20 great tracks here sound great on 180 vinyl. All the classics are here spanning the band’s 30+ year career including “Fight For Your Right,” “Brass Monkey,” “Paul Revere” and “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” from their Diamond-certified 1986 No. 1 debut Licensed To Ill, “Shake Your Rump” and “Hey Ladies” from their 1989 reinvention Paul’s Boutique and “So What’Cha Want” and “Pass The Mic” from 1992’s multi-platinum Check Your Head, which hit Top Ten on the Billboard 200 chart. Also included are “Sure Shot” and “Sabotage” from 1994’s Ill Communication, which saw the band return to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, “Body Movin’” and the universal smash hit “Intergalactic” from their Grammy-winning 1998 No. 1 album Hello Nasty, “Ch-Check It Out” from 2004’s To The 5 Boroughs, which marked the band’s third consecutive Billboard No. 1 debut, as well as “Make Some Noise” and “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win” from 2011’s critically acclaimed Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Beastie Boys Music is out now and you need it! Game over….End of story….get over to see the gang at the Underground grab this and other really good titles out now. And remember to tell them you read the newsletter and receive 20 percent off any one item. Enjoy! -Albert Schmurr
Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um [Limited Edition, 180 gram Vinyl]
Chet Baker – Sings [180 gram Vinyl]
Clifford Jordan – Firm Roots
Daniel Lanois – For The Beauty of Wynona [Limited Edition, Smokey Colored, 180 gram Vinyl]
David Bowie – Legacy
Devo – Duty Now For The Future
Devo – Are We Not Men? We Are Devo
Don Cherry – Live in Paris March 1979
Dr Dre – Chronic
Emmylou Harris – Wrecking Ball
Weekly Review:
Although Emmylou Harris is legend in country, folk and bluegrass circles, her star power in Nashville had
declined by the mid-‘90s. With little to lose, Harris partnered with Daniel Lanois to create Wrecking Ball,
an album unlike any other in Harris’ catalog.
At the time, Lanois was best known for his productions for Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan and U2 and he
applied the swampy atmosphere often found on those albums behind Harris’ angelic voice. The
arrangement on Jimi Hendrix’ “May This Be Love” is as much a showcase for Lanois’ guitar abilities as
Harris’ voice. Lanois layers his guitars and his duet vocals with Harris to create a result more
stratosphere than Stratocaster.
As Harris covers songs by Steve Earle, Neil Young and Lucinda Williams, Lanois has the original
songwriters add backing vocals on their respective tracks. The results are consistently mesmerizing.
Wrecking Ball is a both a fantastic album to get lost in over headphones album or let cascade over the
room like a kind of ritual cleansing. Harris uses every syllable and breath to inhabit these songs and
every note around her is cast to enhance her enthralling singing. Wrecking Ball is not beholden to any
genre or time period. It is eternal, ethereal and essential. -Joel Francis
Eric Dolphy – In Europe (Red Colored Vinyl, Limited Edition)
Eric Dolphy – The Complete Uppsala Concert Vol. 2
The Flaming Lips – American Head
Gorillaz – Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez
Weekly Review:
Gorillaz has been a pet project of Daman Albarn for 20 years and has seen its share of success. The group has often swerved away from the distinctive Britpop sounds of Albarn’s main group Blur and incorporated a more diverse range of influences and styles ranging from Jazz to Synthpop, Electronic and R&B and everything inbetween. The groups run from Gorillaz to Plastic Beach represents some of the most well received work of Albarn’s career. They are back with a fine record with Song Machine Season One recorded prior to and during the Pandemic.
As ever it wouldn’t be a Gorillaz record without a few pairs of helping hands throughout and Song Machine has a diverse range with the likes of Elton John, Beck, Robert Smith (The Cure), Slowthai, Slaves & St Vincent on hand. This record sits much more highly in the top tier of Gorillaz records.
Opener Strange Timez which features Smith sounds like the Cure on acid, Smith’s voice sounds in fine fettle and it really rattles along. The Valley Of The Pagans makes the most of Beck’s distinctive indie soundings and really gives him a chance to shine. Chalk Tablet Towers is a frustrating collab as St Vincent is credited but it is hard to discern her influence on the track beyond being a writer as there isn’t much of a trace of her sound or vocals on display.
While not flawless Song Machine is an example of how Gorillaz collaborations can bring the most out of both Daman Albarn and his cohort of guest stars, it is a thrill to hear such an eclectic mix and there is something for everyone with Peter Hook sure to be an attraction for New Order and Joy Divison fans and the late great Afrobeat icon Tony Allen getting a fitting swansong. With the sheer scale of collaborations and apparent initial want to just release the singles the album sits very well as a whole and is one of Albarn’s strongest since Blur’s reunion record the Magic Whip in 2015. Grab a copy and enjoy the spin!! -Albert Schmurr
Glass Animals – How To Be A Human Being
Hanoi City – Back To Mystery City
Hanoi Rocks – Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks
Iggy Pop – The Idiot
Iron Maiden – Killers
Iron Maiden – Number Of The Beast
John Patton – Let ‘Em Roll
Kiss – Kissworld -The best Of Kiss [140 gram Vinyl]
Led Zeppelin – Houses of the Holy [180 gram Vinyl, Gatefold LP Jacket]
Little Howlin’ Wolf – The Guardian
Lucifer – Black Mass
Lera Lynn – On My Own
Weekly Review:
The latest album from Americana singer/songwriter Lera Lynn is a response to her previous one. That
2018 release was a collection of duets titled Plays Well with Others. For this year’s On My Own, Lynn
wrote, performed and produced everything by herself.
The result is predictably intimate, but also engaging. The album plays as a long-form conversation, with
lots of second-person observations, from opening query “Are You Listening?” to mid-album attention-
getter “Let Me Tell You Something.” On “So Far,” Lynn’s “you” is a past partner from a doomed romance
that now seems compelling compared to her current loneliness. Later, on “Dark Horse,” the “you” is her
new beau. Lynn’s lyrics tumble out, capturing the giddy excitement of a new relationship against an
initially spare backdrop of electric piano, drum machine and basic guitar chords. Cleverly, about halfway
through the song, as the relationship blossoms, so does the arrangement.
While the pandemic forced Lynn to work alone, it also gave her the complete freedom to try whatever
she wanted and hone her own vision. The result is one of Lynn’s more rich and revealing releases. -Joel Francis
Madlib – Shades of Blue
Michael Jackson – Thriller
Misfits – Earth A.D.
Mort Garson -Music from Patch Cord Productions
Mort Garson – Didn’t You Hear?
Mother Mother – Dance & Cry
Motley Crue – Girls Girls Girls [180 Gram Vinyl]
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Return To Greendale
Neil Young – Homegrown
The Notorious B.I.G. – Greatest Hits
Oasis – What’s The Story Morning Glory [25th Anniversary, Limited Edition]
PJ Harvey – Rid of Me
Parliament – Chocolate City [150 gram Vinyl]
Parliament – Up For The Down Stroke [150 gram Vinyl]
Primus – Sailing The Seas of Cheese
Pylon – Chomp [140 Gram Vinyl]
Paul Rogers – A Tribute to Muddy Waters Blues [Orange Vinyl]
Quinn Harris – Statements (180 Gram Vinyl, Clear Vinyl, Reissue)
Queen – A Night At The Opera (180 Gram Vinyl)
Raphael Saadiq – Instant Vintage
Shy Boys – Talk Loud, Bell House
Weekly Review:
Kansas City’s own Shy Boys are back with their third album, Talk Loud. The five-piece band harmonizes
like a lo-fi, indie rock version of the Beach Boys. Vocals cascade over synthesizers borrowed from ‘80s
soft rock albums. At times, Collin Rausch’s falsetto recalls Ben Folds’ less-ironic moments. In a time
where artists are being forced to work alone or collaborate over computers, there’s something
refreshing about the energy generated by a band working together in the same room.
While Talk Loud shows the band having fun with different keyboards and synths, Bell House is a more
guitar-centric release. The band’s second album is an ode to the former West Plaza house where the
band lived and grew up together over the course of five years. The harmonies are just as heartwarming,
but the shimmering and jangling guitars generate and earthier feel.
The Shy Boys albums are pleasant enough to be equally welcome early in the day or in the heart of the
evening. And while the group tackles weighty topics like mortality, unloved pets and consumerism, to
name a few, the sound is bubbly and engaging enough to keep the world at bay while the record spins.
-Joel Francis
Talking Heads – More Songs About Buildings And Food
Talking Heads – Speaking in Tongues [180 gram Vinyl]
Tony Joe White – Bad Mouthin’
Travis – 10 Songs
Tyler Childers -Country Squire [150 gram Vinyl, Gatefold LP jacket]
U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
Weekly Review:
After a decade mining European dance culture, experimental sound collages and irony, U2 returned to
their roots on All That You Can’t Leave Behind. Breathless reviews proclaiming the band’s return and a
scaled-down arena tour (as opposed to the stadiums they played before) pushed U2 to the front of the
zeitgeist. This status was amplified even more after the September 11 attacks when singles “Walk On”
and “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” took on a hymn-like air. When U2 performed at the
Super Bowl, it felt like a moment of national healing and unity.
Twenty years after its release, the importance All That You Can’t Leave Behind lies in your thoughts on
U2. Nothing in this anniversary release – the additional concert, b-sides and remixes – is likely to change
your mind. The songs and the band are as pretentious and self-righteous or genuine and thoughtful as
you think they are.
If you’re just discovering the band or starting to build your U2 vinyl library, this isn’t a bad place to go
after The Joshua Tree. The band’s essence is on full display, for better or worse. Plus, you get “Beautiful
Day,” which is still a jam. -Joel Francis
Various Artists – Stone Free: Jimi Hendrix Tribute
Various Artists – RSD x Decibel Presents Completely Extreme Volume One [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition LP]
The Velvet Underground – Loaded
Weeknd – House of Balloons
Wilco – Summerteeth
FLASH SALE!
50% OFF Gorillaz – Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez (Deluxe Edition) – Thursday, November 5th ONLY!
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Here’s where we talk about the virus. We are all freaked out. We are all nervous and anxious. We are OPEN. If you want to come shop in person put on your mask and we will say hello, give you a virtual high five- a virtual hug if we know you that well- and we will keep our distance. We love all of our customers and are glad to keep this little bit of normalcy in these crazy times. With that being said, we will also offer various other ways to get your vinyl fix. We have always shipped music and we will continue to do so. We also offer curbside pick up. Call us, pay, call us when you are outside and we will deliver your freshly sanitized purchase to your car.
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Enjoy the music and we will see you soon. Your loving Vinyl Underground at 7th Heaven staff:
Sherman, Gordon, Cat, Matt, Dylan, Doyle, Heather, Dave and Max
#TheVinylUndergroundKC #WeAreLocal #YourNeighborhoodMusicStore #NewVinylThursday
